How long do tablets get security updates?

It depends on the maker, and the gap is wide. A Google Pixel Tablet gets security updates until at least June 2028, five years from its US launch. Amazon guarantees a Fire tablet at least four years from the day you bought it new from Amazon, or a published date between January 2029 and July 2030 if that is later. Samsung says Galaxy devices now get up to 7 years, and its top Galaxy Tab S10 models are promised seven. Apple publishes no end date for an iPad, but its security releases list shows fixes in 2026 for iPads launched as far back as 2014.

End dates by brand, in one table

These figures come from each maker's own support pages, except where the table says otherwise. Read the third column first: what the clock counts from decides how many years are left on a tablet you buy today.

Two things stand out. The Fire tablets, the cheapest here, carry some of the latest guaranteed dates, because Amazon publishes a calendar date per model. And every Samsung tablet sits in the company's quarterly update group: its security updates page lists the Tab S11, S10, S9, S8 and A-series tablets there and no tablet in the monthly group, which is where its flagship phones are. A new Galaxy tablet gets about four security updates a year.

Why brand tables disagree

Search for this question and you will find figures that do not match the table above: Samsung four years, Amazon four years "after the tablet is last available." Both were the makers' own words once. Which?'s brand guide, updated in September 2026, still gives them, but they are older policies.

Samsung's four years dates from a 2021 commitment covering Galaxy products released since 2019. Its security updates page now says that as of January 2024 it is extending security support for Galaxy devices "by up to 7 years." The words "up to" matter: Samsung promises the full seven on named flagships, such as the Galaxy Tab S10+ and S10 Ultra, and leaves cheaper models to vary by model and market.

Amazon's change is subtler and works in your favor. Its Fire tablet page now says it will provide security updates "until at least four years from when you bought it new, from Amazon as the seller, on Amazon.com (or until the date stated below if later)." The old rule counted from when Amazon stopped selling a model, which no buyer could know; the new one counts from your receipt. Buy elsewhere, refurbished or from a marketplace seller, and you get the listed date instead.

iPads: the longest record, with no promise

Apple publishes no end date for any iPad, yet supports iPads longer than anyone in practice. Which? describes the commitment as "at least five years from launch." The record is on Apple's security releases page, which lists every update and the devices it reaches. As of October 2026 it shows iPads spread across six lines of iPadOS:

The iPad Air 2 went on sale in 2014, so a security update reached it more than eleven years after launch. That is a record, not a commitment. Apple has no published rule for how long an older iPadOS line keeps getting fixes, and the older lines get updates less often: the iPadOS 15, 16 and 17 lines each had one in May 2026, while iPadOS 26 had updates in every month from March to July.

The practical consequence is the iPadOS 27 cutoff. If your iPad is an 8th generation model or an Air 3, it did not get iPadOS 27 in September and now lives on the iPadOS 26 line. It is still patched, but it is the next group to drift down the table, so plan on that rather than assume eleven years.

The law mostly leaves tablets out

Phones in the UK must come with a published end date. Most tablets need not.

• United Kingdom. The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure regime, in force since April 29, 2024, makes makers of connectable products publish a minimum support period. Schedule 3 of the 2023 regulations excepts "tablet computers which do not have the capability to connect to cellular networks," so a Wi-Fi only tablet needs no statement while the cellular version of the same model does. Tablets designed exclusively for children under 14 are not excepted, with or without cellular.
• European Union. Ecodesign rules for smartphones and tablets apply to models placed on the EU market from June 20, 2025. They require operating system upgrades for at least five years from the date the last unit of a model is placed on the market, so the clock starts when a model stops being sold, not when it launches. Tablets already on sale before that date are not covered.
• United States. No rule sets a minimum. The maker's published policy is the whole answer.

That exception is how an iPad can carry no published date at all. The same reasoning covers laptops, and how long laptops get security updates shows where that leaves a Windows tablet or a convertible.

When the answer stops applying

• Upgrades end before security updates. The Pixel Tablet's five years cover OS updates too, but many tablets stop getting new Android or iPadOS versions while fixes continue. That is fine for safety: which updates to install at once and which can wait explains why the security date is the one that matters.
• A "guaranteed at least" date is a floor. Amazon says that after the stated date it "may continue" to provide updates "for as long as we can." That is a hope, not a schedule.
• Fire tablets follow Amazon's own system. Fire OS is based on Android but updated by Amazon alone, so Google's Android release schedule says nothing about a Fire tablet. Amazon's streaming sticks work the same way, as the smart TV support dates show.
• Policies change. These are the makers' pages as of October 2026, and two of them changed in the last three years.

How to check your tablet and what to do next

On an iPad, open Settings, General, About to see your iPadOS version, then find its line in the table above. On an Android tablet, open Settings, then About tablet, and look for the Android security update or security patch level date. On a Fire tablet, look in Settings under Device Options, System Updates. If that date is more than six months old and nothing is offered, restart, check again, then look up the model on the maker's page.

1. More than two years left: keep it.
2. Under a year left, or on an old iPadOS line: decide what it will become. Video and reading is a reasonable second life; the family's email is not.
3. Buying for a child: the cheapest tablet with a fixed published date is a better buy than a dearer one with none, and a family setup that prevents most problems covers the accounts and limits to set before it is handed over.
4. Buying used or discounted: find the model and its launch year, then count what is left. Listings that blur the generation are common, and buying safely from sellers you do not know covers what to ask. The same sum decides phones, as phone support end dates show.
5. Handing one down: a relative inheriting your iPad gets only its remaining years, so check its line first.
6. Retiring it: sign out of every account and erase it properly, following how to wipe a device before it leaves your hands.